Intrepid LLC

cartoon by @gapingvoid

Have you ever attended a networking session, and encountered this scenario? Say a mechanic gets up to speak, and he says “A good lead for me today is anyone you know who owns a car or truck.”

What the?

Hearing this is like nails on a chalkboard for me. I have a feeling this guy is thinking this is good for him, in that he is casting a wide net to catch ALL fish.

But sadly, this is a sign of a completely LAZY marketer. Someone taking the easy way out. And my guess is his business is struggling. I mean, seriously. What does he think I am going to do, give him my entire rolodex?

In fact, this mechanic is doing the exact opposite of what he should do to grow his business, and find MORE customers. He needs to do what will feel quite counter-intuitive to him – laser focus on one specific niche.

What happens when you cast too wide a net? You find very few clients.  And what happens then? You take on TOO MANY of the wrong clients. And then you are overwhelmed with too much “bad” work, and probably for too small a fee.

Either way, applying some minimalist principles to your targeting process will pay big dividends to your marketing program.

Focus on ONE type of prospect. Just one. In the case of the mechanic? Don’t narrow your focus to Fords. Narrow your focus to Ford pick-ups.

[This doesn't mean the mechanic can't help fix a Chevy should it pull into the garage - it just means his marketing focus should be on Ford pick-ups...ONLY.]

But this only works under two conditions:

One, that you become the best in the market at fixing Ford pick-ups. You should become known as the go-to guy in the event anyone’s Ford pick-up needs servicing. I mean it…the best in your market.

And two, you are going to have to adjust your marketing program to target owners of Ford pick-ups. This is easier than casting a large net, I promise. But it does require some creative thinking, some strategy, and a sustained effort over time to reach out and build real relationships with owners of Ford pick-ups.

The other minimalist impact on your marketing as a result of narrowing your focus? You then also simplify your marketing message. What you say to Ford pick-up owners is different than if you had to speak to ALL car and truck owners. [And if you don't understand this concept...call me. We need to talk.] But if you are targeting too many people, you probably have too many marketing messages. As a result, your message is muddled, and your marketing suffers…

Narrowing your focus to a specific niche simplifies your marketing, and makes it less complicated. Selling is hard enough. Don’t make it more complicated than it has to be.

What do you think?

[See the original post that inspired the Minimalist Marketing series]
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cartoon by @gapingvoid

I am as big an advocate of fully engaging on the social web as anyone…

By this, I mean that you should blog. You should read other blogs via your RSS reader, and be a part of conversations on those blogs. And you should be active on all those other social web tools such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, Foursquare, etc. etc…

But you know as well as I do that if you are not careful, you can lose control. And your activity on the social web will be ALL CONSUMING. And you can spend HOURS playing in the sandbox and not advance your business goals.

It has happened to me. And I am working hard to figure out ways to simplify my presence and activity there. Without sacrificing the benefits.

Here is my best advice to you in terms of how you should view the social web as a marketing strategy for your business:

FOCUS ONLY ON ENGAGING AND SERVING PEOPLE.

If you only do this, you will be on the right path to getting the results you want on the social web. Here are some tips to apply minimalist principles to your social web strategy:

Keep Connections Relevant. It really is quality over quantity. Who cares if you have 100,000 followers if none of them care what you say? Don’t focus time and energy on just racking up hollow follower counts (and do the things listed below, and your list will grow naturally).

Look out for a few key words. If you help authors, you should be searching for messages that contain the word “authors.” You will find someone who needs your help – if you are looking and listening.

Strike up sincere conversation. Don’t just send out one-way sales messages. Find people you can help or want to know, and talk to them. It is these conversations that will lead to business opportunities.

Share with your community. If you are not trying to generate a meaningful conversation, then you should be focused on sharing meaningful content. This helps your network, and can lead to conversations too…

That’s it. Your time on the social web really should be kept that simple. Make it a goal to connect in a meaningful way with ONE person a day. Before long, you have quite a powerful network.

Too often, we get distracted and just lose our way. We get caught up artificially growing our followers, or playing with shiny new tools, or focused on self-promotion.

So keep it minimal. Keep it simple. It is easy to lose sight of your real business purpose on the social web. Keep your goals, and the activity you do on the social web, simple. Follow only the right people. Read only the blogs that help you advance your cause. Do this, and you’re on the right path!

What do you think?

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Not long ago, I published a post about Minimalist Marketing, where I listed several ways to simplify your marketing. The post received some great feedback, so I thought I would explore some of these individual concepts more deeply and thoughtfully.

The first concept that I want to talk about is KEEPING YOUR MESSAGE SIMPLE.

What do I mean by this? Well, simply put, have you ever been asked this question –> “So tell me, I am not entirely sure I know what you do, so what exactly is your business?”

This probably means that the marketplace doesn’t quite know how to pin you down. They can’t say in one sentence what it is you are/should be known for.

You need to be able to tell your story in one sentence.

Examples? Abe Lincoln saved the union. FDR got us out of depression and won the war. Gary Vaynerchuk is the wine guy. Google does search. Todd helps entrepreneurs become intrepid marketers. You get the point.

It takes a lot of strength to choose a specific path, for there is a natural tendency to want to be known as a generalist in your field, capable of handling most any task or function. And it is usually born out of fear of losing out on business.

But these days, this can be a problem. With all the clutter in the marketplace, it is important to have one sentence that tells your story.

You have to make a conscious decision to simplify your message. Target towards a niche. Focus on one thing. AND, once you achieve this, you must do it well and be the best…

Here are three things to do to help you achieve this:

1. Thoughtfully and carefully determine the ONE thing you want the market to know about you. What is your one sentence story?
2. Keep that message consistent on ALL communications. [business cards, the social web, websites, face-to-face networking conversations, etc.] A consistent delivery of the message will help it become memorable. You simply cannot assume that hearing it one time means the message was received and cataloged.
3. TEACH/GUIDE your community and your network to also be consistent when they talk about you. Discipline on #2 will go a long way towards achieving #3, but when you see people talking about you in ways that complicate that message delivery, you need to address it.

It goes against the grain to try to simplify your marketing. With all the communication tools that exist, all the competition, all the chatter, all the conferences and events, it is easy to throw a lot of noodles against the wall and hope a few stick.

But, it is important to be minimalist in your marketing, and be disciplined to keep your message simple.

[photo by _marmota]

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I recently stumbled upon Leo Babauta’s Mnmlist blog, a blog about minimalism and simplifying your life. It has been a profound find, as I am in the process of trying to simplify things in my cluttered life (and I simply LOVE the blog’s design).

But as I was spending time thinking about these things in the context of my life, I got to wondering if there is anything to applying the same concepts to our marketing efforts. Just as it seems to be the case with my crazy life, I oftentimes wonder if most entrepreneurs have a marketing program that is far too complex.

So, here are some minimalist ideas to think about and some important questions to ask yourself:

1. Is your message too complicated? Make it easy for people to remember why you are special.
2. Is your website too cluttered? When people visit your website, make it easy to learn what you do and easier to contact you to do it.
3. Is your strategy on the social web too complex? Your simple online mission is to engage and serve others. That’s it.
4. Is your target audience too scatter shot? Be laser focused on a niche. Don’t try to help everybody.
5. Are you focused on simple storytelling? Do NOT try to communicate one thousand different ideas/messages/concepts/fixes…
6. Can your prospects look at your marketing collateral and easily understand the call to action?
7. Is your diet of new learning focused on the things you need to improve? Don’t read thought leadership on shiny objects (as Seth says) that don’t really advance the goal.
8. Do you have BOATLOADS of pointless busywork? Instead, be laser focused on the important work.
9. Do you experiment with all kinds of new tactical options on a whim? Instead, execute only on new ideas that fall into the scope of your crystal clear marketing plan.
10. Wait, do you even have a marketing plan? Oftentimes, the lack of a road map leads to confusion, complexity and disarray.
11. Are you worried about too many details? Such as inventory, blogging, twitter, facebook, sales, promotions, employees, sick days, cubicles, vacations, graphic design, vendors, invoices, accounts receivable, etc? Instead, focus only on the customer. All the rest will fall into place…

So, minimalist marketing isn’t about cutting back on your marketing, or reducing your marketing budget, or even cutting the time spent on marketing. What I am talking about here is simplifying things so that your program is uncluttered – and can do it’s job.

What do you think? Agree or disagree with this concept? Got anything to add or subtract? Let me know if you have additional ideas to simplify your marketing…

[photo by marmota]

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